The Life Of Pi

By Dylan Webb

Pre-production

The idea

Life of Pi originally a book, which was published in September 2001. This book was then adapted by director Ang Lee, basing it on the adapted screenplay by David Mangee.

Financial backing

The financial backers of the film were Twentieth Century Fox Corporation, who mainly distributed the film in most countries, except for Warner Bros. who distributed it in the Netherlands.

The production company

Twentieth Century Fox were the production company behind the Life of Pi. They have a decent track record, due to being a well known production company and for being around for a long time.

The producer

There were three producers of the film. They are, Ang Lee, Gil Netter and David Womark.

The director

The director, who also was the producer, is Ang Lee.

During the production

The difficulties

In an interview, Ang Lee said that the Life of Pi was his most challenging film yet. He said “Water, kid, tiger, a new language I was not familiar with – 3D – and it does have a tricky ending that sort of pulls the rug under the audience’s feet. That was quite scary”. As you can see, Lee had problems with filming, with the scenery, actors and even communication.

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/ang-lee-filming-life-of-pi-was-far-from-easy-as-pie-8381377.html

Shot on location

The filming locations were (India), Motreal Quebec (Canada), Kenting (Taiwan), Munar Kerala India, Pndicherry (India), Taichung (Taiwan). As you can see, most of the film was shot in India.

Shot in studio

The film was also shot in Rhythm & Hues studios and Fox 2000 Pictures.

Acquiring stars

Over 3000 men were auditioned for the leading role, but they went with Suraj Sharma, who was a 17 year old student and an acting newcomer. He had to undergo training in ocean survival, as well as yoga and meditation for the part.

The budget

Gil Netter proposed for a budget of $70 million and the production company hesitated and the development went on hold. The final budget they received was $120 million.

People involved in production

These are some of the people involved:

David Lee (co-producer), David Womark (producer), Ang Lee (producer), Mychael Danna (music), Claudio Miranda (cinematographer), Tim Squyres (editing), Avy Kaufman (casting), Arjun Bhasin (costume), Kirstin Chalmers (makeup),

Distribution

Distributors

The film was distributed by 20th Century Fox, who have a good track record due to their long lasting time in the film industry and due to being well known.

The release date

The release date of Life of Pi was November 21st, 2012. This was because they were trying to get the film closest as it could to the Christmas season so more people would be able to go and see the film due to it being a PG rating.

Marketing strategy

The Life of Pi was marketed as “the next Avatar” in the trailers and TV spots. They also re-released the novel in a movie tie-in edition. The film was not led by big name stars and faces over the other winter blockbusters. They used TV, posters, billboards, internet.

Other publicity gained

The film gained publicity due to the natural disaster that was Hurricane Sandy. The film had a massive storm in the storyline, and it was said that the Sandy would affect the box office revenue, due to its devastation.

Exhibition

The film was first released in the USA on the 23rd of November 2013 in 2927 screens.

Film classification

The film received the rating of a PG, due to it containing mild language and threat.

Critics

The critics response to the film was positive. The film received a 8.3 out of 10 on IMDb. It also scored a Metascore of 79/100, showing that the film has been a success through the eyes of the critics.

In the news

The film made the news when it crossed the $300 million overseas and closing towards $400 million worldwide. It also made the news when people found out about the storm scene, and due to it being after Hurricane Sandy caused a small debate, but the scene remained in the film.

Box office

The film has made $492,809,000 worldwide as of January 21st 2013. It received $22,451,514 on the opening weekend. The film was considered a commercial success, even thought it was stated that it might fail like the film ‘Hugo’ and that people may not understand it.

Running time

The film is still in the cinema (21st January 2013) even though it was released in November moving past its two month date in the cinema.